READERS OFFER THEIR VIEWS ON WORST U.S. PRESIDENTS

Last month, the U-T San Diego editorial board presented its take on the five worst presidents in U.S. history and solicited readers’ views on the topic. You complied in a big way. We received hundreds of responses. Many were strong partisan opinions with some lauding our choices and others vigorously objecting to the inclusion of a sitting president on the list.

Some wrote that even though they believe President Barack Obama is doing a terrible job, it is unfair to judge him before he has served a full term and before his actions can be viewed in a historical context.

While Obama, Richard Nixon and James Buchanan made it on many of your lists, several readers expressed astonishment at the absence of other presidents, most notably George W. Bush, Warren Harding and Herbert Hoover. There were also several votes for Ulysses S. Grant, Lyndon B. Johnson and others. And among the more than 1,400 people who participated in an unscientific online survey, Jimmy Carter led the pack.

Following is a sampling of reader responses:

• J. Steven Cowen wrote that Grant was “a known drunkard [who] had the most corrupt and scandalous administration ever.” Cowen went on to cite the Black Friday scandal, which created economic chaos when two speculators tried to corner the gold market through White House connections, driving the price up greatly, and the Whiskey Ring scandal, which saw whiskey distillers, politicians and government agents siphon off millions of dollars in federal taxes on liquor.

• Robert Peterson, who teaches U.S. history, agreed with us on Buchanan and Johnson but noted that it is “way too early to rate Obama” and that, while Nixon should probably be on the list, he did have major successes in foreign policy. Peterson’s pick for worst was Harding: “Incredibly unqualified, way over his head, many scandals, many horrible high-level appointments.”

John Robert Crawford wrote that although Hoover was “perhaps unjustly blamed for the initial crash of the stock market in 1929, and the ensuing Great Depression, (he) did little to rehabilitate the economy and thus paved the way for his own defeat.”

Crawford also agreed that Obama belonged on the list. “I know many on the left side of the spectrum will roll their eyes, aghast, at this latest dishonor for the Obama administration, and I’m sure the U-T has already received several pieces of scathing hate mail for its (perfectly valid) decision not to include George W. Bush among the five worst,” Crawford wrote. “One of the key differences between Bush and Obama is that history will remember Bush as a visionary. Dubya made difficult, gut-wrenching decisions during a time when the very safety of this nation was at its most uncertain since the Cuban Missile Crisis. Bush drew his line in the sand and dared others to cross it; history will vindicate him for his courage and for his ability to confront threats from overseas.”

He said that Obama, on the other hand, “will be remembered as a colossal disappointment, especially given the pomp-and-circumstance that he rode to victory in 2008. His promises have been empty, and he has utterly failed to address the biggest issue in America today: the extremist partisanship that now divides the so-called ‘United’ States. He will also go down in history as the author of Obamacare, the single biggest power grab in the history of the federal government, a poorly planned boondoggle of legislation that was railroaded through a Democrat-controlled Congress.”

• Bob Nelson disagreed with the choice of Obama. “In my opinion George W. Bush goes ahead of Obama to finish as number 1 bust. His startling lack of ability to think on his feet makes me believe that he lacked the ability to perform the tasks necessary to be a U.S. president,” Nelson wrote. “This in addition to the unneeded war in Iraq and the unbelievable inept conduct of the occupation captures my vote for him as number 1. While I do agree Obama is shaping up as deserving of inclusion in the top five, I think it only fair to point out that he has not served a full term yet. And while Obamacare is flawed at least he is trying to come up with some solution to the fiasco that is health care in this country.”

• Dixie Peterson wrote, “I have two main problems with your list. 1. Obama isn’t as bad as you say he is. 2. You left out Warren G. Harding. How can you forget about THIS crook? Come on, guys! You won a Pulitzer for exposing Duke Cunningham’s corruption. You can do MUCH better than this!” Her list also included Nixon for “the all-around corruption of his administration will forever tarnish the legacy of his presidency” as well as Carter, Bush and Hoover whose “support for trade wars made the Great Depression even worse.”

• Reader Marla Bell chose to restrict her list to the five worst presidents who served during her lifetime. She chose LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter and Obama.

Several readers were dismayed by our list, including Marianne Buncher, who wrote “the political climate today is devastating” and suggested a different approach: “How about the five best presidents?”